JNVST 2027 Exam Pattern: Mental Ability + EVS, 80 Questions, Pass Marks

The Navodaya selection test is still 80 questions for 100 marks in two hours — but what is inside the first section changed for JNVST 2027. Until 2026 the Mental Ability Test filled Section 1 on its own with 40 figure questions. From 2027, Section 1 is 20 Mental Ability questions and 20 Environmental Studies (EVS) questions, 25 marks each. Many pages, and most practice books printed before mid-2026, still describe the old paper. This guide gives the 2027 pattern from the NVS prospectus, the minimum marks a child must reach in each section, and what those minimums mean in correct answers.

NVS prospectus JNVST 2027.

Every correct answer earns 1.25 marks, and NVS states plainly: “No negative marking will be done.” A wrong answer and a blank answer both score zero, so there is never a reason to leave a circle empty — when a child cannot work out an answer, the best choice between the remaining options is still worth marking. What does cost marks is the OMR sheet itself. Only a blue or black ball-point pen may be used, “no change in the darkened circle is allowed”, and striking, whitener or erasing means the answer “will not be evaluated”. A child who changes their mind after darkening a circle has lost that question.

NVS sets a qualifying minimum in each section: 14 marks in Mental Ability and EVS, 7 in Arithmetic and 7 in Language. A child who misses any one of them is out, whatever the total. Because each question is worth 1.25 marks, the minimums translate into a whole number of correct answers — and the numbers are higher than the marks suggest at first glance.

Clearing the minimums is necessary, not sufficient. Seats are filled on merit within each district, separately for rural and open seats and for each reserved category, and NVS does not publish a cut-off. A child should aim well above the minimums everywhere — the minimums only ensure that a very strong score in one section cannot carry a near-blank in another.

The suggested times work out to the same pace in every section: 60 minutes for 40 questions in Section 1, 30 minutes for 20 in Arithmetic and 30 minutes for 20 in Language — 90 seconds a question throughout (our arithmetic). A bell rings every 30 minutes, which is a useful check: at the first bell the child should be about halfway through Section 1. The prospectus lets children adjust the time between sections themselves, but advises against spending longer on a section than suggested.

If candidates tie on the total, NVS breaks the tie in this order in 2027: higher marks in Mental Ability and EVS; then higher marks in Arithmetic; then an ST candidate before an SC candidate; an SC candidate before General and OBC; an OBC candidate before General; a girl before a boy; and finally the younger child. The 2027 list jumps from item (b) to item (d). In 2026, item (c) was “more marks in Language”, and it is most likely a drafting slip rather than a decision to drop Language from the tie-break — we flag it rather than assert either way.

The booklet comes in the language chosen in the application form, from the list for the child’s State — English and Hindi everywhere, plus regional languages such as Telugu, Marathi, Urdu, Oriya and Kannada in Andhra Pradesh, or eight languages in Karnataka and in Assam. The prospectus is firm: “change of language (medium of examination) is not possible”. The medium was one of the fields open in the correction window, which the NVS portal announced for 11 and 12 August 2026; it has now closed. Before the test starts, the child should check that the booklet is in the right language and that the booklet number matches the OMR sheet; either problem must be raised with the invigilator at once.

It is worth practising the answer sheet as well as the questions. Because marking is machine-only, NVS says there is no provision for re-evaluation, re-totalling or manual scrutiny, and it advises candidates “to be careful and mention exact booklet number/code on OMR sheet during the examination”. A child who has filled in a few practice OMR sheets — booklet number first, one firm circle per question, no second thoughts — loses nothing to the sheet on the day.